The ninth edition of the festival is set to disrupt, challenge, and inspire filmmaking in a showcase of the radical and rebellious work of female and gender-diverse filmmakers from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Pasifika. With a focus on fresh perspectives, the festival delivers dynamic screenings, talks, and masterclasses that push the boundaries of storytelling, all while celebrating the visionary women at the forefront of the film industry. Transforming ACMI and Fed Square into a vibrant hub of creativity, MWFF will captivate audiences from Thursday 20 –Monday 24 March.                                                                        “I am thrilled to invite audiences to immerse themselves in a celebration of both emerging and established women and gender-diverse filmmakers from across the region.” MWFF Festival Director, Sian Mitchell commented “Come and discover groundbreaking new voices, hidden cinematic gems, and the powerful legacies of women’s filmmaking. This is where the future of film is being written, and we can’t wait to share it with you.”In a special Opening Night screening, Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu’s We Were Dangerous (Aotearoa NZ, 2024), a powerful story about hope, girlhood and the celebration of female friendships, will set the tone for the festival. Set in 1954 New Zealand, the indomitable film follows rebellious teens at a remote reform school. Banding together, the girls push back against the oppressive rules and system designed to shape them into subservient women. Starring the incredible Rima Te Wiata (Hunt of the Wilderpeople), Nathalie Morris (Bump), Erana James (The Changeover) and newcomer Manaia Hall, this is a rallying cry for girls to unite across the divisions that are used to disempower them. Bursting with joyful rebellion We Were Dangerous is the perfect feature to kick off this year’s disruptive program.

The wickedly funny Audrey (Australia, 2024) follows, featuring a captivating panel discussion. This razor sharp comedy follows a washed-up soap star who adopts her comatose daughter’s identity in a bid to reclaim her life. With a stellar cast including the inimitable Jackie van Beek (The Breaker Uppers), Hannah Diviney (Latecomers), Josephine Blazier (True History of the Kelly Gang), and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (The Dry), Audrey is black comedy at its best. Audrey will be presented in a special screening event and panel conversation— Reframing Audrey. Having received the prestigious ReFrame Stamp—alongside the likes of Shiva Baby and Barbie—which recognises commitment to gender-balanced hiring, including women, non-binary, and trans people, the MWFF screening will include a panel with filmmakers and ReFrame founders for a discussion on the certification’s impact on the global screen industry.                                     In a night of schlock, horror, gore, and goo, MWFF, in collaboration with the TILDE Film Festival, will present The Almost Midnight Movie Marathon. First up is Alice Maio Mackay’s T Blockers (Australia, 2024), a high-octane tribute to queer and genre cinema. When ancient parasites emerge to feed on hatred and infest the fearful, a struggling young trans filmmaker becomes the only one who can sense the possessed and lead the charge to stop the horror from spreading.
Stick around (if you dare) for Sasha Rainbow’s debut feature, Grafted (Aotearoa NZ, 2024), where Mean Girls meets Face/Of . A disfigured Chinese scholarship student at a prestigious New Zealand university turns to terrifying science to gain the popularity she craves in this twisted tale of transformation. The Almost Midnight Movie Marathon is a blood-curdling ride not for the faint hearted.                                  MWFF’s exceptional short film program complements these bold features, offering five dynamic selections that spotlight fresh talent and new ideas. Freshly Squeezed Shorts 1 offers everything from lively tales of wedding jitters and blossoming familial bonds to evocative true stories of embracing culture and identity. Next Gen Shorts highlights the emerging generation of filmmakers, with explorations of womanhood, suburban Melbourne life, complex mother/daughter relationships, and the all-too-relatable impulse to “spill the tea” with friends.

ARTRAGEOUS! presents a special screening of experimental and avant-garde shorts from the 1990s and early 2000s—hard-to-find films from Australia’s third- wave feminism, riotgrrl, and 90s surrealist revival eras. Rebellious, funny, and startling, these outré tales are not to be missed. Meanwhile, Freshly Squeezed Shorts 2 serves up everything from tributes to inspiring women, past and present, to the bizarre saga of an accidental gnome kidnapping. A curated selection of shorts from these programs will also be displayed on the main screen at Fed Square, inviting passersby to discover the unflinching talent of female filmmakers.                                                                                              The MWFF Short Film Awards will honour this year’s standout filmmakers with a special awards ceremony and screening of the winning films, followed by celebrations at Cameo, ACMI. Following this, the final shorts screening, Daydreams and Nightmares, will wrap up the festival on Closing Night with a captivating collection of short films from emerging talent across the region. Embracing the surreal, reveling in the sinister, and frolicking in the bizarre, these films will take audiences on a visual odyssey that will challenge perceptions. For independent filmmakers in the audience, MWFF presents Masterclass: The Art of Visual Storytelling… on aBudget. The interactive session, led by art department expert Lucy Gouldthorpe (Love Me, Shantaram), will teach filmmakers how to shape the look, mood, and style of their stories for low-budget film and television projects.                           Industry professionals can look forward to the return of The Lifecycle of Film, co-presented by Women in Film and Television Victoria. This dynamic mentorship invites attendees to join three intimate roundtable conversations led by industry experts, each focused on a different aspect of the screen industry—from development to exhibition. MWFF is an unmissable celebration of cinema, offering everything from daring feature films and captivating short screenings to inspiring masterclasses and lively panel discussions. Audiences will be immersed in thought-provoking narratives, innovative storytelling, and exciting new voices in cinema, all while celebrating the groundbreaking work of the women shaping the future of the industry.

For more about MWFF 2025